Spreadsheet “Worst Practices”

It takes some effort — often a lot of effort — to develop and maintain
sound, proper, and effective spreadsheet practices. The spreadsheet’s very ease
of use encourages sloppy habits, and even seasoned finance professionals can
find themselves falling into bad habits. At its worst, spreadsheet sloppiness,
reflected in poor design, difficult manipulation, and lack of documentation, can
lead an auditor to declare that a company has ineffective controls over some
aspect of financial reporting. But even less serious spreadsheet follies can
cause major headaches.